Talk:Dissertation
To start a new discussion topic just click on the + sign above. Add the new subject (question) and answer it in the body (if you have an answer or want to make a comment. It is good practice in this case to add your name in parenthesis so that we know who asked the question. If you want to reply or simply to any question or edit your comments, click on 'edit' above (for the whole page) or on the 'edit' next to the question (for that question only). You'll get the hang of it. Remember that you can edit your comments (and those of others) at any time. It is also good practice to sign in so that you know who has been making changes. What is a 'research question' (RQ) and why is it so important? (David) After selecting your dissertation topic, the RQ is the most important part of your dissertation in terms of getting started, and then guiding your progress throughout researching and writing the dissertation. You can think of it as the 'engine' that drives the dissertation - it determines the type of literature you will review, the type of data you will analyse, the introduction that you write, and the conclusion that you reach. It is the reason you write the dissertation - to find out the answer to this question. The RQ takes you on a journey - that journey is the dissertation! When you start, you should not know the final destination. (Quique) Another way to think about this is as an 'inverted pyramid'. The subject area you are interested in will always be broader than a 10,000 dissertation will allow. But as you research on some issues of more relevance to you, you will narrow it down to a single, specific and detailed question. What could I study on Civil Society Networks? (Quique) What about researching the social networks that can exist between civil society people and people in the public sector? Where civil society enjoys of more space to participate in policy processes, it is often because of personal relations between policy makers and civil society. Understanding these better might help us build more of them. OK, over to you guys! DISCUSSION STARTING JANUARY 2nd 2007 Q. But what are the characteristics of a good research question? What should one keep in mind while framing a good research question? It will be of great help if someone can share his or her ideas on the above question. (Nilanjan) A. OK Nilanjan, thanks so much for getting involved on the page! The first thing that makes a good research question is that it is 'researchable' and clear. So for example, 'Under what circumstances can civil society influence poverty reduction policy?' provides the means to analyse data from past cases, both successful and unsuccessful, in order to find out what happens under different types of conditions. The second is that a good research question is 'open' and has more than one possible answer: so this question might result in an answer that says there are many different circumstances, or alternatively that there are only a very few. Or even none at all. The third is that it should not be normative in tone. e.g. 'Can ...?' Rather than 'How can ...?' And finally - for now - a good RQ is 'past-oriented' rather than 'future-oriented'. So for example 'How can NGOs affect policy in India?' is not a good RQ because it is trying to research something that may not have actually happened. This would more correctly be in the recommendations part of a dissertation, not the RQ. A better RQ would be 'What lessons can be learned from NGO efforts to influence policy in India?' since this gives you actual concrete data to analyse based on what real organisations have done or tried to do. There may be useful lessons, there may not. (David)